Summary by Goodreads.com:
The first in a trilogy, this gritty, fast-paced fantasy is rife with the unexpected. Cassel comes from a shady, magical family of con artists and grifters. He doesn’t fit in at home or at school, so he’s used to feeling like an outsider. He’s also used to feeling guilty—he killed his best friend, Lila, years ago.
But when Cassel begins to have strange dreams about a white cat, and people around him are losing their memories, he starts to wonder what really happened to Lila. In his search for answers, he discovers a wicked plot for power that seems certain to succeed. But Cassel has other ideas—and a plan to con the conmen.
Thoughts:
White Cat is a disappointment. Ms Black's writing is extremely worrisome because I do not understand how an author with her capabilities can be a New York Times Bestselling Author. The only reason I can come up with her title is over the success of her Spiderwicks Chronicles (which I enjoyed). From what I can see, after Spiderwicks she started to venture out to more YA and her first YA novel was Tithe. I was quite excited to read it but at the end I couldn't even finish it. That book has some issues but that was years ago so when I encountered White Cat (WC), I was eager to give it another shot. Chances are Ms Black might have improved.
I was wrong.
WC has SO much potential. The concept is interesting and the setting seemed extremely badass. But I wish some other writer would write this. Yes, that's how much disappointed I am with Holly Black.
Black has an affinity for "bad" characters; her characters are usually rebels or high-cuttingly edgy. And I'm totally fine with that BUT my biggest problem is how she portrays these characters. It is problematic because a) it seems that she tries too hard, with the smoking and cussing, and b) they are not even interesting. I thought that if a character should be edgy, it should at least be interesting but no. Black's characters are bland. And you can certainly see this in WC.
Her characterization is weak and her character development seemed highly superficial. I would go as far to say that Holly Black is a poseur. And this can be seen in her characters.
I have two possible explanations for WC's plot structure:
a) Black is incapable to write a coherent story. WC just doesn't make sense to me. I thought I would get it maybe in the later parts of the book but no, it was very hard to focus. I had trouble keeping up with what's going on and the "working" concept is just not working (excuse the pun) for me. I just DON'T UNDERSTAND it! Till the end I still can't figure out how do these characters "work".
b) SPOILERS but Cassel can't seem to remember his past. In fact someone tampered his memories. So just maybe the whole reason why I had trouble understanding the plot is because Cassel's fake and real memories start to overlap. Black might purposely arrange the plot like this because she wants the reader to feel the confusion that Cassel is experiencing. However I find this highly unlikely especially coming from a writer who can't even characterize properly. If this IS her intention, all I can say is major fail on her part.
Now will I be reading the sequel?
NO.
I've had enough with Black, thank you very much.
Obsession Rating: 0 out of 5
Verdict:
1 out of 5
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